Global Industrial Conference continues in Chicago

The Baird Global Industrial Conference continues today. It is taking place in Chicago, Illinois from November 12th to the 14th.

Baird is one of the world’s leading international financial services firms, and this conference is led by their Global Industrial team, which is their largest industry group. The conference brings together senior executives from over 250 industry-leading corporations in various sectors. This will be especially noteworthy in light of Donald Trump’s recent victory in the United States presidential election last week.

There has already been speculative optimism within the American financial sector so far, with the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq closing at record highs last Wednesday, following Mr. Trump’s projected reelection. In his previous term Trump implemented the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which provided a reduced corporate tax rate, incentives to invest in capital, and benefits for small businesses. The perceived continuation of policies that favor American industry likely led to this stock boom. Trump’s policies also included tax cuts for individuals, to promote spending and stimulate economic growth. A similar, pro-business agenda is expected during President Trump’s second term, which forecasts well for American manufacturers, who expressed record optimism during President Trump’s previous term. Baird will produce its key takeaways at the end of the conference, so it will be interesting to see if this year’s participants confirm this tentative optimism as well.